This summer, I read and re-read many of the 20th-century British-American humorist P.G. Wodehouse’s books and stories, especially the Jeeves and Wooster stories. Besides being funny, Wodehouse’s use of the English language is delightfully creative (e.g., he was decanted into the automobile; Jeeves shimmered out of the room).
But beyond this, I found the stories calming. I was finishing up my latest book and was anxious about it. That’s when my significant other, also a Wodehouse fan, plopped a used copy of David Jasen’s Wodehouse biography, A Portrait of a Master, on my night table. I picked up the volume and started reading and couldn’t put it down.
The insights into Wodehouse’s writing process, both technical and emotional, bucked me up at a time when I needed bucking.
Before reading the biography, I had no idea that Wodehouse also wrote the words and lyrics for many Broadway musicals and Hollywood movie scripts. Wodehouse, together with Jerome Kern and Guy Bolton, created the modern American Broadway musical – integrating the story, lyrics, and music.
That stage and movie experience informed how Wodehouse structured the plots of his books and stories. And the structure of his stories – planting seeds early on and weaving the many strands together in a grand conclusion at the end forms the basis of virtually all TV sitcoms that we see today. I took those lessons to heart in writing the characters and plot in my own book.
For more than a century, readers around the world would have been delighted by the novels, short stories, plays, lyrics and essays of Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, best known as the creator of the dimwitter English gentleman Bertie Wooster and his indispensable valet, Jeeves. The definitive authorised biography of one of the greatest literary humourists of all time, first published in 1974 and now appearing in a revised, updated edition. Comprehensively illustrated, with many unique family portraits, this is the first book to trace Wodehouse's career from his first magazine contribution in 1901 through his show-business years with Jerome Kern and…
I loved this book because, besides being a detailed and accurate history of the story of tea, it reads like a spy or detective thriller, and it changed my view of the British Empire.
I grew up in Montreal, in English Canada, where every morning in school we stood and faced the portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and the Union Jack (the British flag), and sang God Save the Queen (by the way, the same tune as America the Beautiful!). We studied English literature and English history more than Canadian or American literature and history.
Before reading this book, I had no idea that many of those 19th-century noble families gained their wealth, and their large and beautiful country estates romanticized in novels, through trading two valuable crops with China: Britain grew opium in India and traded it for China’s tea.
China, for centuries, had guarded the secret of growing and processing tea so closely that no one knew how to produce it. Enter a lowly gardener, not even trained as a botanist at illustrious British universities – Robert Fortune. He had the botanical knowledge to recognize the plants and the guts to dress as the Chinese country folk did and penetrated deep into China’s tea-growing regions, eventually stealing seeds, tea plants, and the secret recipes for turning the delicate leaves into liquid gold.
The book is effectively a tale of industrial espionage on a global scale that changed the economies of many countries and brought the world one of its most beloved beverages. It is an elegant example of writing about history, botany, and biology in a compelling and interesting way.
"If ever there was a book to read in the company of a nice cuppa, this is it." -The Washington Post
In the dramatic story of one of the greatest acts of corporate espionage ever committed, Sarah Rose recounts the fascinating, unlikely circumstances surrounding a turning point in economic history. By the middle of the nineteenth century, the British East India Company faced the loss of its monopoly on the fantastically lucrative tea trade with China, forcing it to make the drastic decision of sending Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to steal the crop from deep within China and bring it…
I've always loved Paris – perhaps in part because of the romantic attachment that my parents had for the city. They met and married there after World War II. I had visited Paris many times, first with my parents as a teenager and later to speak at France's universities. So, it was natural to be intrigued by a book about how Paris became Paris.
It is a fascinating story of a transition from a medieval city to one that intentionally included green spaces and broad walkways connecting them – urban design that is now recognized as so healthful and necessary for a vibrant city. It was all due to King Henri IV's and his grandson Louis XIV's far-seeing vision to take down the ramparts that surrounded the old city and replace them with green spaces. Some were so heavenly that they were called the Elysian Fields – the site today of one of the most famous and beautiful boulevards in the world: the Champs (French for "fields") Elysée (Elysian). Who knew that the "Sun King" was also an urban planner!
I read this book as I was researching the biophilia/green spaces section of my book to show how important access to green spaces is for health and wellbeing.
Those many green spaces and wide boulevards make Paris one of the most walkable cities in the world – two essential ingredients for well-being: exercise and access to nature! I read this book as I was researching biophilia/green spaces for my new book and how important access to green spaces is for health and wellbeing.
At the beginning of the seventeenth century, Paris was known for isolated monuments but had not yet put its brand on urban space. Like other European cities, it was still emerging from its medieval past. But in a mere century Paris would be transformed into the modern and mythic city we know today.
Though most people associate the signature characteristics of Paris with the public works of the nineteenth century, Joan DeJean demonstrates that the Parisian model for urban space was in fact invented two centuries earlier, when the first complete design for the French capital was drawn up and…
WELL at WORK: Creating Wellbeing in any Workspace By Esther M. Sternberg, M.D. Drawing on her pioneering research, Esther M. Sternberg, MD, shows how to design any workspace—at home, the office, or anywhere in between—to enhance both physical and emotional wellbeing. Staying healthy at work has never been more top-of-mind than it is today. But staying healthy isn’t the same as staying well. Staying well at work isn’t just about the germs and toxins that impact how we feel physically or even make us sick; it’s also about the many aspects of the environment that affect our stress levels, mood, focus, and productivity. Whether you work in a traditional office or a corner of your bedroom, healthy workplaces need not be a luxury. Well at Work reveals how to design these spaces for wellbeing across the seven domains of integrative health: stress and resilience, movement, sleep, relationships, nutrition, spirituality, nature and the air we breathe. And these principles apply to any spaces not only where you work but also where you live and learn! You’ll learn: • How the environment you work in all day can impact your sleep at night • Optimal lighting and noise levels for reducing stress and staying alert • How to adjust temperature and humidity to protect against infection • Why open-plan offices can keep you more active • The myriad benefits of access to nature (and how to bring nature indoors) • Office layouts that foster social interaction, but not distraction. • Foods to enhance cognitive performance • And more On this eye-opening journey of discovery, you’ll meet Dr. Sternberg’s colleagues in science and medicine, design and architecture, and building sciences who are striving to make workplaces more conducive to wellbeing. And you’ll glimpse into the future of the workplace, where artificial intelligence and the metaverse will help us design environments that respond to our individual needs. Above all, you’ll come away with a menu of simple steps anyone can take to be—and stay—well at work.
